GENX: First Contact, Chapter 1/?
Robyn Goldstein
first manifestation of her powers.
Hawk
http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~hawk/xmen.html - Xmen fanfic
ftp://joeshaw.bevc.blacksburg.va.us/pub/fan-fiction - (ftp mirror site)
-Do not meddle in the affairs of hawks, for we are fond of raking with our
talons.
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Generation X: First Contact part 1
Disclaimer: Every character you recognize (Generation X) belongs to
Marvel Comics. Glenn, Dawn, and her family belong to ME. This story is
mine, so don't even THINK about trying to copyright it. You have been
warned. There is little or no bad language in this story, so don't
worry about it. (I'd like to apologize in advance for Glenn's horribly
overdone accent, but since he doesn't use it very often I figure it
shouldn't be too bad.)
Author's Note: Here's the deal: this is my first fanfiction story, so
if it starts off a little rocky I'm sorry. I can't drive, and it will
be several years before I do, so please don't sue me. And while I'm
apologizing, I'd like to say that this story was supposed to have been
posted about a week ago, but my e-mail got screwed up and Hawk
(through no fault of her own) couldn't translate the program. Sorry
again, guys (and Hawk, who's been very tolerant throughout) Comments
are more then welcome, but since there will most likely be some
confusion between who you're writing to (my father and I only have one
e-mail address) address the comments to my screen name,
Tapestry. (Magical Mouse, if you're reading this this is NOT intended
to be a rip off of your story. These kids don't even KNOW the Shadow
King most likely never will.) Now, on the story.
1
Revelations
First of all, my name is Dawn Embers. Yes, I know it sounds like
some sort of pun or another, but bear with me here, okay? Anyway, I
was in a boarding school in Oklahoma when it happened. I know what
you're thinking, what kind of boarding schools are in Oklahoma? Well,
it didn't matter because I was in it whether I wanted to or not.
Course, the only reason I was in it in the first place was because Dad
inherited a few million dollars from some relative he never even
met. But hey, I wasn't complaining. It was a heck of a lot better then
my old school, which even the rats had condemned. Still, I missed my
friends, (yes, all three of them) and the place had been starting to
giving me the creeps.
First of all, the headmaster, Dr. Essex, was very... odd, for
lack of a better word. Not cruel, mind you, just odd. I might have
been new to that rich kid riff, but I did know when there was
something wrong. The day before I had to take a test involving cards
with shapes on the backs of them. A woman had held up a card with the
blank side facing me and had me write down what shape it was. They
hadn't let me know what it was for, or what I had scored, but the
woman who had tested me had looked pretty grim. I'd asked her what it
was for, but all she did was shake her head. I couldn't imagine why,
but she seemed almost sorry for me.
Needless to say, this was NOT very comforting.
Still, the place had some perks. My own room, nice view, and the
food was fantastic. I figured I'd had it made. At least until I had to
go to high school, anyway.
Naturally things didn't last that long.
"Yyyyyyiiiiiiieeeee!" I screamed as I suddenly felt as if
something was attempting to burst into my head. Not physically, but
mentally, as if some unseen force was battering my mind like a toy
boat in a stormy sea. I crumpled like a piece of paper, clutching my
head tightly, trying to quell the pain.
"AAAAAYYYYYYAAAAHHHH!!!" I shrieked; the pain had intensified ten
fold. That was when I KNEW something was wrong. Whatever it was that
had been trying to get inside of my mind had succeeded. I felt as if I
was being ripped apart, then crushed, then suffocated, then burned. I
could FEEL people out there. I could feel people dying. It was agony;
more then I could bear.
Then I could feel something else, too. Emotions. Millions of
emotions tugging at my heart, -- my very sanity -- and none of them
were mine. I could sense what everyone in the school was
feeling.... what everyone in the whole flipping state was feeling! It
was being caught in the center of a traffic jam and everyone was
beeping at ME. I felt like killing myself just to end the insanity,
and then --
Silence. It was gone, all of it. Just like that. I'd never
thought I could know such bliss as that single, peaceful
moment. Presently I was aware of someone pounding on the door and
shouting to be let in. I straightened my clothes and pushed the hair
out of my face before letting them in, hoping to look more
presentable.
The someone' at the door turned out to be Ms. Jameson, one of the
teachers. "Dawn, what's wrong?!" she exclaimed.
What was I supposed to say? I'm sorry Ms. Jameson, I've just
been assaulted by every emotion this side of the Mississippi, but next
time I'll suffer quietly'? Riiiiiiight. Think fast, girl. "Um, uh, I
was just, uh..." I knew I'd better hurry up or she'd go ahead and call
the nice men in the white coats to take me away. "It was just a... uh,
migraine." I STILL can't believe I said that.
"Oh, I know how much those can hurt some times, dear,"
Ms. Jameson said, putting a cool hand on my forehead. "Shall I get you
some aspirin?"
I still can't believe she BOUGHT it, either! Either I was a
better liar then I gave myself credit for (which wouldn't take much)
or she shouldn't have been teaching.
"Um, no thanks," I said, my sentences still consisting largely of
um's and uh's. "It's gone now. Weird, huh?"
"Actually, things like that are quite common," Ms.Jameson told me
as she walked away. "Call for me if it happens again and I'll bring
the nurse."
"Thanks Ms. Jameson," I said. I started to close the door.
She nodded her head, then did a double take. She looked at me
strangely and removed her glasses and wiped them off on the edge of
her blouse. She put them on again and squinted at me. By the time I
closed the door I was REALLY feeling paranoid. What on earth could she
have been staring at?
I looked in the mirror and did a double take myself. I had a pure
white streak that covered a third of my head running through my BLUE
HAIR?! I remember thinking something like: What the %$!& is going on
here?!? Since when did I get this streak?!?! Since when is my hair
BLUE!?!?!!
I collapsed onto my bed, literally in shock. That headache (which
was a major understatement of what it had actually felt like) could
POSSIBLY have been the result of stress. Not likely, but
possibly. But that? I looked like a renegade Smurf! And this was
quiet, conservative (according to my teachers) little Dawn we were
talking about. Dawn, who'd always gotten straight A's. Dawn, who'd
never missed more then three days of school in the space of six
years. Dawn, who'd never been in any trouble in her life. The only
thing I could think about was that my dad would kill me when he saw me
like this. That, or whether I should check into a mental institution
or join a rock band.
I decided to place a call to my best friend, Glenn Keaton. He
said he was seventeen, but I always got the distinct impression that
he was older, even though he looked the part. Anyway, Glenn inherited
big bucks from his folks when they died. (Once I'd asked him how, but
he just ignored me and changed the subject.) Aside from being rich,
however, Glenn was also a thief. Not a real thief, mind you, he rarely
actually stole anything, but he was an excellent lock-pick and master
escape artist. I locked him in a trunk once, handcuffed and hogtied,
and he got out in less then twenty... Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. I'd
met him a few years ago when I was on a camping trip with friends. I'd
been climbing a tree near a river and the branch had broken. I'd
fallen into the water when out of nowhere Glenn just dives in and
rescues me, a complete stranger, without hesitation. We'd been friends
ever since, and he'd always helped me out when I got into trouble.
I figured now qualified as one of those times.
I pulled on my cream sweater (part of the school's uniform) and a
hat to cover the new involuntary fashion statement that was my hair. I
could just see the headlines: "Punk Smurf Look Sweeps the Nation; 13
Year Old Girl Sues for Royalties."
I opened the door and stuck my head out. "Ms. Jameson?" I called.
"Yes Dawn?" she replied, her voice coming from directly beside my
door.
Eeeeeep! What had she been doing, waiting for me? "Can I use my
phone privilege to call my... uh, boyfriend?" Not technically a lie;
Glenn WAS a boy, after all. "I promised him I'd call him today, and I
miss him a lot." Do you ever notice how stupid something sounds the
moment it leaves your mouth even though it makes perfect sense in your
head? This was one of those times.
"I suppose," Ms. Jameson agreed amiably. She led me down the hall
and to the main office, where she waited for me while I dialed the
number.
"Um, do you mind?" I said. By then I'd said so many uh's and um's
lately that I wouldn't have been surprised if they were now considered
actual words. "This is kind of personal."
Ms. Jameson smiled and left the room. I locked the door and
prayed for Glenn to answer the phone.
"Hello?" he said at last.
"Hey Glenn," I said, ever the smooth talker. "It's me. Um, do you
know the boarding school I'm staying in?"
"St. Anne's? Yeah, I know it."
"Well, could you come here?"
"TONIGHT? Why?"
"Well, something really weird's going on with me. It's hard to
explain, but it feels like I'm-hhhgxck!"
"Dawn? Dawn, are you okay?! Speak ter me, gel!!!"
I didn't answer him. The pounding had started again, and this
time it was so bad I couldn't even move, let alone talk. It was
slightly more focused this time, though. I was getting some of Glenn's
emotions, which were mostly panic. Added to my own, it made for one
heck of an anxiety attack. I could feel myself turning white as a
sheet and could just barely make out Glenn's panicked voice on the
other end of the phone. It sounded like he was miles away, and getting
farther every moment.
And suddenly it was gone again, as quickly as it had before.
"Dawn gel, wot's wrong with yer?!"
I wondered if he realized that his accent (British I believe,)
always kicked in when he was worried or excited, like it just had. I
figured I'd better answer him before he gave himself a heart attack.
" S okay, I'm still here," I gasped.
I heard him sigh with relief. "Wot's wrong with yer?" he asked.
"You're forgetting your accent again," I reminded him.
"Oh. I said, what's wrong with you?'" he said after correcting
his grammar.
I couldn't help but smile at how cute he was when he tried to
sound American before I answered him. "That's part of what's wrong
with me," I replied. "It feels like there are all these voices trying
to get into my head, and they won't stop. I can... sense people
dying. It... it's very painful. That was the second time it's happened
today, and it was a lot worse this time. Can you come over? Please?"
The last line was dangerously close to a plea, but it was quite
genuine.
Glenn didn't answer right away. After all, it HAD been an odd
request to ask him to come all the way to my boarding school just to
nurse me through a few migraine. But the fact was, I did need him
there, if only for moral support.
"I'll come," he said at last.
"Oh, thank you Glenn! How soon can you get here?"
"How soon do you need me?"
"As soon as possible!"
"I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
"But you live two hours away at least!" I protested. I was too
late, he'd hung up.
I walked out of the office in a daze, trying to figure out how
Glenn would change a two hour car trip to a fifteen minute one. Oh
well, no time to argue about it anyway.
"How was you, er, friend?" Ms. Jameson asked, a sly look
in her eye.
"Fine," I told her. "He said he might visit me sometime." Another
half truth, but that was as close to lying as I could get.
Ms. Jameson walked me back to my room, where I settled down to
wait for my friend. As I did I took off my hat and sweater. Naturally,
I go cold again almost imediatly, so I pulled on my leather jacket. Of
course, as soon as I put part of my regular clothes on I had to put
the rest of them on to. Besides, not only did a leather jacket look
absurd with a skirt, I didn't like skirts anyway. I had donned a pair
of jeans and slumped onto my bed with a book, trying (unsuccessfully)
to keep my mind of the bizzare twist my life had taken, when I heard a
series of clicks and my window popped open.
" Ello, luv," Glenn chimed as he crawled in. "Did yer miss me?"
"Accent," I said affectionately as I hugged him. He smiled and
ruffled my hair, and then looked closer.
"What did you do to your hair?" he asked. "You look like a reject
from that old Smurfs show."
See? Great minds really do think alike.
"I didn't do anything to it, you twit," I scowled. "It's natural."
"What, are you going pre-maturely grey?"
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "No, you moron. This took place
within the space of five minutes, tops."
"Hmm. If that's what you look like now I wonder what you'll look
like in the morning."
I gave him a gentle shove and he took the hint. He inspected me
closely and looked puzzled. "Do you have contacts on?" he asked.
"Nope. Never worn em in my life. Why?"
" Cause your eyes are blue, too."
I looked in the mirror and got another shock. My eyes, which had
previously been brown to match my hair, were now well and truly
blue. Not the light, sky blue you usually see, either. They were a
deep, navy blue, and they had the effect of making it seem like you
could drown in them.
And how would I explain to my parents that their mousy little
girl's hair and eyes were now blue? Mom had always said I'd grow out
of it, but I think she'd meant that my hair would turn chestnut or
something, not blue.
"Dawn?"
"Huh?"
"What exactly happened to you?"
"Well, I was just sitting here, getting ready to go to sleep, and
suddenly it felt like someone was trying to split my head open with a
sledge hammer. When it finally stopped my hair was blue, but I didn't
notice my eyes."
I couldn't hear what Glenn said next, because the room went
black. The pounding had started again for the third time in the space
of two hours. And this time it was pure AGONY. The first two times
seemed like a walk in the park compared to that time. The cries of the
dying alone was tearing my mind apart, and when I tried to scream no
sound came out. I could feel what each person was thinking when they
died, and the waves of death were endless. I could feel Glenn holding
me tightly, trying to calm me, but my mind seemed detached from the
rest of my body. The thing that DID comfort me, though, was the
thoughts I gleaned from his mind. They were soothing and filled with
concern for me. I tried to focus on them, but it didn't work, my mind
was being pulled deeper and deeper into the madness. Finally I
screamed mentally :SOMEONE -- ANYONE -- FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HELP
ME!!!!!!:
I felt a gentle touch on my mind, much like Glenn's in the fact
that it was trying to help me. I let it in gladly, and it helped me
fight back the madness. It showed me how to defend myself against the
onslaught of emotions and the voices quieted. Not entirely, but enough
that I could think again.
:There,: came the voice of the one that had helped me. :Does that
help yer?: His voice had a distinct Cockney accent to it, similar to
Glenn's. He was concerned, and I immediately decided I liked him.
:Yes,: I thought. :Thank you.:
:Ye're welcome,: he sent. :But I have t' go, we're too far away
t' keep our psi-link.: And with those parting words he faded from my
mind. I staggered to my feet when I regained the ability to move
again, leaning on Glenn for support.
"Are yer okay?" he asked.
"Accent," I reminded him shakily. This time I noticed that the
voices hadn't stopped completely. They were much quieter, but they
were still there. I could still sense people dying, but only a little,
not enough to drive me mad. "And yes, I'm fine someone helped me this
time."
"Who?"
"I don't know. He talked to me with his mind and helped me build
walls around mine to keep out the voices."
Glenn was lost in thought for all of five seconds, and then he
started to laugh.
"What's so funny?!" I demanded.
"Don't you see what's going on?" he laughed. "You're a mutant! A
telepath!"
I wasn't sure whether to kiss him or punch him for straightening
the whole mess out for me.
He doubled over with laughter. "Welcome t' my world, gel!" he gasped.
"What're you..?" I started. Then I realized something. "How did
you get here so fast?" I asked.
"Flew," he chuckled. "One o' me many natural talents."
"You're a mutant, and you never told me?!"
"Just so, luv," he gasped, appreciating the irony. "Yer father's
in the Friends of Humanity, remember?"
I took one look at his smug little face and slugged him in the
nose.
TEASER FOR NEXT CHAPTER
(Yeah, I know regular books don't have teasers, but this is my story
and you can't do anything about it, so humor me, okay?)
Glenn and Dawn go on a road trip to the Academy and Generation X
actually makes an appearance! (parts of it, anyhow)